Tornadoes are shifting farther east in United States, study finds

Although tornadoes have been decreasing in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas — Texas still has the most tornadoes. (Barcroft Media / Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

An ill and potentially deadly wind is starting to blow a bit more in the Eastern United States.

States along the Mississippi River and east of the waterway have seen an increase in tornado activity since 1979, leaving scientists perplexed by the cause.

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“This is what you would expect in a climate-change scenario, we just have no way of confirming it at the moment,” said Victor Gensini, lead author of a new study published in the journal Climate and Atmospheric Science.

Gensini warned that the ultimate result could be more death and injury because the shift involved more heavily populated areas. “More folks are generally at risk because of that eastward shift,” he said.

The study, using data gathered between 1969 and 2017, identified a “Dixie Alley” — an eastward extension of the “Tornado Alley” in the central Great Plains. Tornado activity is increasing in Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa and parts of Ohio and Michigan, according to the research.

Although tornadoes are decreasing in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, the Lone Star State still endures the most tornadoes of any state.

Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee and Arkansas are the four deadliest states for tornadoes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

New paper alert!

I had a lot of fun working on this one. Essentially, I asked myself a very simple question about a year ago. Are there any spatial trends in US tornado frequency?

The study measured changes in key tornado ingredients: Wind speed and direction at different altitudes, the instability of air and humidity. The biggest bump came in states bordering the Mississippi River, but everywhere east of the river except the west coast of Florida saw an uptick in tornado activity.

Gensini and other scientists can’t say with certainty that the tornado changes are caused by global warming.